Page 148 of Back in the Saddle

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll get the pasta water going.”

That wasn’t a meaty part of the recipe (in truth, this recipe wasn’t hard, and there were only nine ingredients, two of them salt and pepper, so this wasn’t the spectacle the pastitsio was, but it sounded yummy), so I let him have at it.

I grabbed the flier, turned it over and saw:

Oasis Holiday Extravaganza!!!!!!!!!

When: December 12, starting at 7:00 p.m.

Where: Oasis Courtyard

What: Glitter and Potluck

Dress: Get your holiday on!

(We’re dressing up.)

RSVP: Bill and Zach

Fill out the OASIS HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!!!!! Google form sent to your email to share what you’re bringing (Raye, your only acceptable contribution is your pudding, Jess, you’re on a signature cocktail, make it a good one!)

Anyone coming must give Bill or Zach $20 by

December 10 to fund the bar.

Anyone wanting to participate in the Secret Santa,

fill out that Google form in the same email.

If you come in jeans, we won’t throw shade, but this is about glitz and glamor and holiday cheer. So find a sequin or two or put on a blazer. It won’t kill you.

HOSTS: Bill and Zach!

“Do you think we’ll still be together on December twelfth?” I asked Eric.

“Yes,” he answered immediately.

I smirked again, though that was on the outside. On the inside, that gooey feeling was back.

I waved the flier and inquired, “Wanna be my date to a glitz and glamor holiday extravaganza in the courtyard?”

“Yes,” he repeated.

“Feel like being in on the Oasis Secret Santa?” I kept at him.

“No.”

I laughed.

Just what I thought he’d say.

But I was totally getting in on the Secret Santa. I killed at Secret Santa stuff.

It wasn’t hard, just buy a good bottle of booze.

“I don’t think you have to wear a tux, but you might have to wear a suit,” I warned him.

“I’m not allergic to suits, honey,” he told me. “What are you wearing?”

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